A woman participating in sports activities was rare before the 1970s because it was seen as manly and it wasn’t looked upon. Eventually, on June 23, 1972, Title IX was signed by President Richard Nixon. According to this law, discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded education program or activity is prohibited. If this law was passed over 40 years ago, then why is it that many girls and women still face discrimination in athletics? More and more women began playing sports, but they didn’t, and still don’t have great support, opportunities or salaries. Further steps need to be taken to prevent inequality in high school, intercollegiate and professional sports. I am in my senior year of high school, and I have been playing basketball …show more content…
It is easier for males to obtain athletic scholarships than it is for females. As of 2012, according to Cynthia G. Brown, Senior Fellow at American Progress, “There are 3.1 million girls who play high school sports, but there are less than 200,000 collegiate athletic opportunities for women,” (Brown 1). Why is it that there is a significant amount of females playing sports in high school, yet they don’t have as many possibilities as males? Brown also states that there are about, “160 more opportunities for males to participate in athletics” (Brown 1). Despite Title IX requiring female athletes to receive scholarship money that is proportionate to their sports participation, it still isn’t enforced. At division I schools, women make up 51% of students but they only receive 42% of scholarship dollars, with 31% being spent to recruit new athletes. The Office for Civil Rights needs to conduct evaluations to ensure that female and male athletes are receiving the same opportunities. If they did, the gap in scholarship possibilities can be reduced. With more females receiving money, this could possibly increase the amount of professional female athletes, and decrease the amount of discrimination professional female athletes …show more content…
On their website, The Women’s Sports Foundation includes facts that every female athlete should know. They mention a very important point that, “If economic reason can be used to justify sex discrimination, would you accept that reason to justify other forms of discrimination” (Women’s Sports Foundation 1)? They then go on to give examples, one asking if it would be okay if African-Americans don’t receive a specific opportunity due to their race. And obviously, the answer is no. No race, social background, nor gender should be used to prevent people from receiving certain benefits. Title IX needs to be reinforced to prevent any further discrimination, and to assure that girls and women receive the same benefits as
Great inequalities in the educational system between the sexes have occurred for many years and still occur today. Efforts have been made to rectify this disparity, but the one that has made the most difference is Title IX. Passed in 1972, Title IX attempted to correct the gender discrimination in educational systems receiving public funding. The greatest correction it made was in the area of athletics, but social justice of Title IX applies to many other areas as well. Title IX has an effect on women who are not athletes in many ways, including quality of education, receptivity to education, empowerment and creation of ideals.
Schools have to follow Title IX guidelines and make sure that the money spent for athletics is split 50/50 for men and women's sports. Even if there are not as many women competing as there are men. This results in significant budget cuts on the men's athletics. “They correctly note that despite the good intentions of Title IX, the legislation is often used not to augment athletic opportunities for women, but rather to eliminate athletic opportunities for male athletes.” (“Bad”). This was from a former University of Illinois swimmer, whose team got eliminated from the school due to Title IX budgetary reasons. (“Bad”). The school ran out of money for the men's swim team, so it got completely cut from the program and ruined his scholarship. Paul Mainieri, the LSU men's baseball coach said, “I don't know that I've ever had a player receive a scholarship in the amount which was commensurate to his value." (Keating). It is brutal that college sports have to be treated in such a way. Especially for such a big sport like baseball. Schools have to take the scholarship money that was handed to them, and just give it to some women for a sport that is not popular in the NCAA. For instance, a men's baseball team in the NCAA can only have their scholarship money split between 27 players, while on the other hand, women's ice hockey can be split between 30 players.
Title IX and the Education Amendments of 1972 were created to defend equal opportunities for women of all ages. Since its inception 44 years ago, women have seen impressive strides as well as disappointing failures. Social prejudice continues to exist limiting female participation opportunities, benefits for female athletes, coaching opportunities, and increased exposure to sexual assault and abuse. Few institutions treat female athletes equally due to the lack of enforcement by collegiate athletic departments. The enforcement of Title IX has not been a priority among far too many educational institutions leaving women open to discrimination and mistreatment.
Since the 1972 conception of Title IX of the Education Amendments, the number of women participating in intercollegiate athletics has increased five-fold, from fewer than 30,000, to more 150,000 in 2001. However, more than 400 men’s athletics teams have been dismantled since Title IX, the law forbidding sex discrimination at institutions receiving federal funds, became law. Some would say this is due, in part, to Title IX enforcement standards like proportionality. Proportionality requires that an institution’s athletic population must be of an equal ratio to its general student body. Among some of the 400-plus teams dismantled by Title IX are several former Colorado State University teams including wrestling, baseball, gymnastics, men’s swimming and diving, and men’s tennis. CSU student athletes no longer sport the opportunity of participating in these activities at the NCAA Division I level, and the days of the student body rooting for their ram teams are gone, possibly forever. Now the search is on to find a solution to the problems associated with Title IX if, indeed, a solution is ultimately necessary.
Throughout the late 1900’s, Title IX had an effect on both men’s and women’s sports. Before Title IX, girls were often discriminated in sports and education. Girls were not given fair treatment because they were thought of as weak. Men were given more privileges in sports. Some people think that Title IX has ruined men’s sports. The creation of Title IX was to reduce gender discrimination in sports and education. After Title IX, women were given more respect in sports and education. Women have grown both academically and athletically. Title IX has had effect’s on both women’s and men’s sports and education.
The role of college athletics in the American home is known to all. The traditional football games on Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. March Madness for NCAA men's basketball as well as the year's end Rose bowl for college football leaves fans glued to their televisions for hours. Millions of Americans stare at ESPN or absorb themselves in the most recent issue of Sports Illustrated just to catch the latest news on their favorite teams' recruits, recent games, and statistics. Often just viewed as a past time to most it is easy to lose sight of why these athletes are on the field , court, etc. to begin with. Believe it or not, it's for their education. These young adults ranging anywhere from seventeen to twenty-three years of age are all members of the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association). As such these students must initially meet the requirements to get accepted into their chosen university, participate in their sport, and ultimately graduate from their selected institution. It is often forgotten that these members are students first and athletes second. Delving deeper into this very controversial matter are the race and gender issues that come into play. The most affected minority group affected by these stipulations and is the African American. While struggling through the ongoing prejudice and discrimination that still exists today, African American athletes are still expected to follow the same guidelines as every other student that participates in college athletics. By investigating the trends from the past years of African American athletes beginning with their entrance into college throughout their athletic and academic careers and then a...
The enactment of this Title has significantly changed the playing field for athletic departments through out the nation by altering their funding systems to comply with its rules. As a result, women have benefited greatly. There have been additions of female sports as well as an increase of the number of scholarships awarded to female athletes, and also a lot more funding to provide more “equitable” facilities for them. According to the NCAA Gender Equity Studies , “from 1992 to 1997 NCAA institutions have increased the number of female athletes by 5,800. But tragically during that time these colleges also eliminated 20,900 male athletes.” (Kocher p.1) This dramatic landslide has occurred because athletic departments are under pressure to rapidly increase the proportion of female athletes by whatever means necessary. As the path toward complete “equality” gradually brightens for women in college athletics, a dark path is now becoming evident. Male athletes, in a sense, are now being discriminated against because of Title IX.
When the American people think of women in sports, they think of ice skating, field hockey, and diving. People don’t recognize that women have the potential to play any sport that a man can play, with equal skill, if not better. Much has changed for women since the 1970’s. One of the most important events that have happened in the world of female athletics is the establishment of professional athletics for women. Educational Amendments of 1972.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 states that, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” (“Title IX and Sex Discrimination”) Title IX protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities which receive Federal financial assistance. This had a significant impact on women’s sports on all levels. “These programs and activities may include, but are not limited to: admissions, recruitment, financial aid, academic programs, student treatment and services, counseling and guidance, discipline, classroom assignment, grading, vocational education, recreation, physical education, athletics, housing and employment.” (“Title IX and Sex Discrimination”) If any person wants to file a complaint of an alleged discrimination, they must go to the Office for Civil Right within 180 days of the incident.
Gender discrimination is prominent in every industry, but it is as though the sport industry is one of the worst. Women in the work force currently receive only 80 cents to every man’s dollar (Holmes, 2016). However, female athletes both in America and internationally receive a far lesser compensation for their attributes. The only difference of the sports being played is who plays them. There should be no reason why a male athlete receives better pay simply because he had a 50% chance of being born a man. At birth, no one controls the gender, but as they grow and mature, they control their personality and development. Payment should be on personal skills and not gender. As a female STHM student focusing on sport management and a former athlete,
It has taken many years for women to gain a semblance of equality in sports. Throughout history, women have been both excluded from playing sports and discriminated against in sports. Men’s sports have always dominated the college athletic field, but women were finally given a fighting chance after Title IX was passed. Title IX, among other things, requires scholarships to be equally proportioned between men and women’s sports. Although this was a huge gain for women, gender inequality still exists in sports today. An example of this persisting inequality can be seen when looking at men’s baseball and women’s softball. In college, baseball and softball are both major NCAA sports. It is widely accepted throughout today’s society that baseball is a man’s sport, and softball is a woman’s sport. Very few people question why the two sexes are separated into two different sports, or wonder why women play softball instead of baseball. Fewer people know that women have been essentially excluded from playing baseball for a long time. This paper will focus on why softball has not changed the way women’s basketball has, why women continue to play softball, the possibilities and dynamics of women playing baseball with and without men, and the most discriminating aspect of women being banned from playing professional baseball.
Over two decades have passed since the enactment of Title IX, a federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in federally funded education, including athletics. As a result of Title IX, women and girls have benefited from more athletic participation opportunities and more equitable facilities. Because of Title IX, more women have received athletic scholarships and thus opportunities for higher education that some may not have been able to afford otherwise. In addition, because of Title IX the salaries of coaches for women's teams have increased. Despite the obstacles women face in athletics, many women have led and are leading the way to gender equity.
Gender Inequality is something that happens abundantly more often than we think within our everyday society. These events that take place we might not even be noticing them until someone points them out to us or we’re put into the position where we need to, due to our society has been taught to work and what we look for in these situations when they appear to be happening. This is something that our society really needs to work on to fix as a whole. The problem with gender inequality is that it often affects females more than males from having completely equal rights or fair opportunities within our society to do the things they’re passionate about within our everyday lives and work areas across America. Some of the places where gender inequality might be over looked at, is the sporting aspect of our population.
One Generation Later, by Huffman, S. Tuggle, C. & Rosengard, D.S, explore the relevant discrepancies in media coverage. The authors assert that more boys than girls indulge in sports activities in school. Studies have examined the impact of Title IX on media coverage given to female athletes as opposed to male athletes to determine if there has been a shift away from negative social stereotypes that are traditionally associated with women’s sports participation toward a more socially accepting view of the female athlete. This has become a huge source of concern. Male students take active part in sports activities.
Gender in sports has been a controversial issue ever since sports were invented. In the early years, sports were played only by the men, and the women were to sit on the sidelines and watch. This was another area of life exemplifying the sexism of people in which women were not allowed to do something that men could. However, over the last century in particular, things have begun to change.